Challenge Accepted!
by Strange Principles
Summary: This was a challenge, which I gladly accepted. Involving Ginny and Draco, and beavers... T for language.


-1Note from author: These are going to be a load of short stories based on how many times -ahem- something of nothing posts challenges. (Well, she keeps changing her name, and at the moment it's about radish earrings… hm), but this is challenge accepted number one!

Ginny's POV

Ginny walked through the corridors humming to herself. She'd taken her OWLS last year, and had passed each subject, all excepting History of Magic, with flying colours. Of course, she only had Harry to thank for the Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL she had received - it had been two years, but the DA had been incredibly helpful. Thank god, it was one of her free periods. She looked at the prefect's badge pinned jauntily to her school tie, and then at some first years messing around near the fire. Rolling her eyes, she went over to them and stood over them disapprovingly.

"Hey, you two. Bugger off."

The two looked up with fearful eyes and then ran from the common room. Smiling to herself, she turfed Crookshanks (who she'd always thought looked rather like a squashed watermelon -- what did Hermione like about him?) out of one of the squashy Chintz armchairs, and took out a quill. Biting the end of it in thought, she whipped out a piece of parchment, and began to write.

She didn't get very far, due to the fact an owl flew into her face through the common room window fireplace. It was Errol; who was frankly far too old to be of any use whatsoever to the Weasleys. Spitting out feathers and pushing Errol away, she untied the package at its feet and read the letter enclosed.

_Ginny,_

_We can't really remember the last time we sent anyone a letter, so we're sorry if this is a bit buggered up. Writing is just way too much work, and even with self-writing quills you have to do the thinking. _

_Anyway, you'll never guess what -- Malfoy came into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes over summer, and stole a load of merchandise, the little arse. It's probably to do a load of stuff that'll just make a load of trouble for the OOTP so we thought, hey, let's let Ginny sort him out for us. George and I were too busy at the time. Well, George was. And me, I guess. When there's female customers - what do you do?_

_So we've sent you some little things that might piss him off a bit, 'cause making trouble for the Order's okay for us, none of the merchandise we sell can cause much hassle for them. Bust stealing from us is just plain rude. So, I don't know, have some fun experimenting. We would've asked Ron, but the ikkle prefect might upset dearest Hermione. Besides, we reckon he's a bit… you know. Round the bend. Doo-lally. And besides, you're better at Quidditch._

_Fred and George_

Ginny raised her eyebrows. Well, she had a lot of work to do… but maybe making trouble for Malfoy would be fun? She didn't mind breaking rules. In some cases, she had a certain fondness. She didn't go over the top like Fred and George, and she didn't harbour the same rivalry and hatred for Draco Malfoy as much as Ron or Hermione, but the comments about her hair and her home and family really pissed Ginny off.

Smiling slightly, she opened the parcel slightly more to reveal a packet of what looked like Hobnobs. However, at closer examination she found them to be canary creams…

She read the list of ingredients carefully, then prized off the first label that read 'Canary Creams - Enjoy the Delights Of Being a Bird', to look at the second one, naming a different product completely. The small smile on her face spread to become an evil grin.

She'd have fun taking advantage of her Prefect's badge.

----------------------

Malfoy's POV

Malfoy went back up to the common room to admire his new collection of stolen goods. He had to admit, that although the Weasley brother's were blood-traitors, they had made some extremely good products. However, none would be useful to the Great Lord, apart from maybe the instant darkness powder; and the lord could summon up these things in an instant. However, some of the goods would be good to inflict upon Gryffindors and therefore improve his status even further with Slytherin. If it could be improved further. He may as well have been a celbrity to the younger Slytherins… it was just his friends that mocked him. Some friends they were. Or maybe they just saw the good in him? Draco didn't know. Strange how some people's minds work.

Zabini walked up to him with the lazy stature he so often possessed. "Oy - Draco. Got some kind of Prefect's Memo for you. There's a meeting."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Prefect's meeting? I'm not pathetic enough to go to one of those."

"And yet you're pathetic enough to steal from the worst shop in Diagon Alley," snickered Zabini. "Blood-traitors and everything." He examined the note again. "It says there'll be food there…"

_Food?_ Thought Malfoy, tempted. He was the kind of person who was never really awake enough to enjoy breakfast, was too busy spreading misery to eat at lunch, too tired in the evenings to eat, and too lazy to trot off to the kitchens. But if he was supposed to go to a meeting - where there would be squashy armchairs, rather than the straight-backed chairs in the Slytherin Common Room, then he was all to eager to go.

--------------------

When he arrived, only the Weasley girl was there. A year younger than him she was still a prefect, and that shocked him. That the lanky git, and his younger sister, could become prefects, was shocking. His eyes went greedily to the food.

"You didn't see anyone else arrive?" Said the Weasley girl, her voice dripping with malice to disguise an innocent question.

"Don't think I want to be stuck in a room with a blood-traitor such as yourself," Draco said, disgusted at the fact she was talking to him.

To his surprise, her reply was full of hurt and guilt.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You know, I've never had much of a quarrel with you, Draco. And besides, it doesn't particularly bother me you don't like Ron. He was always a bit of an oddball."

Draco almost choked on the cake he had downed. "What the hell?" He spluttered. Why the hell was she trying to suck up to him? Still, it was a good feeling, being liked. It was true, he had never seen past the lanky git to Ginny Weasley before, but she actually looked his type.

"I'm sorry!" She cringed, flinching. "Didn't mean to stop your eating. You're obviously pretty hungry…"

Without knowing what he was saying, Draco nodded.

"There are some more things over there. Here? Want me to get them? Look, you like orange juice? Biscuits?"

Draco felt slightly mothered by her, and he found it strangely intimidating. When she thrust a loaded plate into his hand, he raised the food to his mouth and automatically started eating.

"When are the other's coming? I thought this was a prefect's meeting."

"Oh.. They'll be here."

Her voice was strange and her eyes were full of a kind of hungry anticipation. Draco wondered for a moment whether she knew about his little trip to her brothers' shop…

He looked back up at her, and something struck him. Of course! There wasn't a Prefect's meeting at all -- he had been so stupid. This must all be some kind of trap…

Draco dropped the biscuit he was holding, and the strangest sensation crept over him.

---------------------

Ginny's POV

Ginny began to laugh as Draco began to change. He didn't turn into a canary, and the change definitely wasn't temporary, as the canary creams would've been. No. Malfoy's ears grew inwards and his face covered with fur; from his robes grew a huge, strong tail. His teeth grew to an enormous size, just as Hermione's had three or four years ago, and by the end of the transformation Ginny was in hysterics.

Draco Malfoy had turned into a beaver.

As if the new transformation had affected his instincts, too, and changed them into that of a beaver, he looked around, saw the table leg, and snapped it off. With his stick, he looked like he had the intention to build a dam.

Still laughing, Ginny opened the door and called:

"Colin! You can come in now!"

Colin entered with his camera, and gleefully took as many pictures as his film would take. Beaming at Ginny, he said:

"Thanks, Ginny! This'll look great on the front of the school newspaper!"

Which only made her laugh harder.

-------------------

Malfoy's POV

Draco made his way down from the Hospital Wing still simmering. Every now and then, he caught whispers.

"…. You'll never guess what! Well, Ginny Weasley sent Draco Malfoy a canary cream, but it went wrong and they turned into a beaver!"

Draco thought he had never felt so murderous. He passed the Weasley girl in the hall, and with a merry smile she passed him a school magazine along with a rather large stick.

"What the hell is this?" He roared to the gathering crowds around Ginny.

"Well, that's a copy depicting your moment of fame…" the girl pointed to the front of the magazine, which showed Draco as a beaver, hugging a large table leg protectively (he ripped it into shreds), "and that," she pointed to the stick, "is the table leg that Hagrid had stripped down for you, so you could cuddle it at night easier…"

The cheers from around the Weasley girl echoed in Malfoy's ears and from that moment on, he knew that he would never, ever walk near Veritaserum.

-------------

Note from Author: There you go, Nat!


End file.
